


The Ache For Home

by Flame_Of_Ice



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 02:34:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11499948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flame_Of_Ice/pseuds/Flame_Of_Ice
Summary: Peter's relationship with May has been strained since she discovered the truth. A terrible event at Midtown High (and a little support from MJ) helps them move past it.





	The Ache For Home

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by 'we don't have to be stars exploding in the night' by thefudge (http://archiveofourown.org/chapters/25638489), in which Michelle/MJ has figured out the truth about Peter. I only wish this fic was as good as that one. 
> 
> This fic is not quite what I was aiming to produce. It's a bit of a mish-mash, and I realise that (in its seriousness) it may not seem true to the characters) but I'm gonna post it anyway. There are awesome funny Spider-man: Homecoming fics out there. This ain't one of them, because funny fics are not one of my strengths. 
> 
> I hope someone enjoys reading it, all the same. 
> 
> Warning: this fic contains gun-related violence. It's not graphic, but it's there.

It had been a long week, since Aunt May had found out about Peter’s extra-curricular activities. A week of silences and stares that burned into him as he kept his eyes on his plate at the dinner table. A week of infrequent, terse questions about whether he had put the garbage out (he had; as much as possible he was on his best behaviour right now) and what time she could expect him home after school.

May had been pissed at him before now, but this was different to her normal hot-headed anger. This was a smouldering, grates-on-the-nerves, cut-the-air-with-the-tension type of anger which Peter had never experienced from her before. It made him want to crawl out of his skin. 

Ned was sympathetic but ultimately useless in providing any reassurance.

“Dude, you don’t think she’s going to kick you out, do you? Where would you live then? I mean, you could totally crash at my place in the short-term, I know my Mom and Dad wouldn’t mind for a week or two, but what about after that? Do you think Mr Stark would…”

As the Man in the Chair, Ned was awesome. As a counsellor, he sucked. 

MJ, his surprise new friend and confidant, had done a much better job.

“What do you expect? You’re her only child, you’re still only fifteen and you’re risking your life, night after night. She doesn’t know from one night to the next where in the city you could be, who you could be facing off against, what they could be armed with. Nada. That would be enough to freak out any parent.”

He and MJ were sharing a window seat in an isolated corner of the school library, MJ sitting opposite him with her book face down in her lap.

“I know, I know. I get that. I really do. But she won’t even talk about it. She won’t even let me show her what I’m capable of, what I can do to defend myself and others. She doesn’t understand why this is so important to me.” Peter argued back, keeping his voice low.

MJ sat up a little, her lower leg brushing against Peter’s as she did so. As happened sometimes lately when he was with MJ, Peter felt heat pool in her stomach. He looked down at his hands, afraid his eyes would reveal something if they met Michelle’s in that moment.

“Why _is_ it important to you?” MJ countered, her voice calm. Peter’s gaze drifted to her hands. She didn’t wear nail polish, like a lot of girls her age. Peter liked that about her, for reasons he couldn’t quite define.

“It, it…” Peter stopped and looked her in the eye. “It has to do with how my Uncle Ben died. It’s…hard to talk about.”

MJ nodded, no sign of judgement, opinion or morbid curiosity on her face. Peter had come to really like that about her. How her seeming aloofness translated into an ability to listen impartially. It was like jumping into cool, clear water on a hot summer’s day.  

There was a moment’s silence.

“Give her time and try to be patient with her, I guess. That and…maybe you eventually need to talk to her about the Uncle Ben thing. Maybe she’ll understand better then?”

Peter tried to imagine talking to May about why Uncle Ben had died the way he did. Tried and failed. Still, he felt better for their conversation.

“Thanks MJ. You’re the best.” He gave her a wide, grateful smile. She looked away and Peter was shocked to see a light blush fan over her cheek.  Heat pooled again in his stomach, stronger this time. He was staring. He knew he was staring and he knew she was aware of his staring. But somehow he couldn’t make himself look away.

Suddenly MJ jumped up out of the seat.

“C’mon fly-boy. Let’s go see if the cafeteria has quietened down enough to be able to hear ourselves think.” With that she turned and walked away, her Ayn Rand book tucked under her arm.

Peter huffed a wry, amused breath and followed her.

 

* * *

 

The cafeteria had not quietened down. At the back of his mind, Peter’s spider sense complained quietly about all the input. He took a deep breath and focused on the loose curls of MJ’s hair, as she stood scanning the room.

“That one should do.” She pointed to an empty table near the entrance, furthest from the hubbub, a question in her eyes as she looked back at Peter.

He had recently told her about his enhanced senses and she hadn’t forgotten. Peter was intensely grateful.

“Looks good.” He replied, and they headed over and plonked themselves down, only to be joined by Ned a few minutes later.

“Guys, wanna hear about Flash’s latest bout of assholery?” Was his greeting.

“Like I want a root canal,” said MJ, opening her lunch.

Ned was undaunted. “He spotted Emma and Cassie, y’know from Social Studies, well he spotted them holding hands and now he’s going around telling everyone their lesbians.”

MJ exploded.

“Jesus! So what if they are lesbians? That’s their business and this is the 21st century. Flash needs to…”

Suddenly MJ’s voice was drowned out by a now-familiar creeping sensation stealing over Peter. On instinct, he turned towards the cafeteria entrance, the feeling of danger emanating strongly from that direction. He stood up.

“Peter? Peter, is everything…” The feeling spiked sharply and the world slowed as two teens stepped into the cafeteria.

Peter registered everything all at once. The AK-47 in the hands of each of them. Their expressionless faces. The sounds of over 600 students in the room behind him. The heat of MJ’s hand on his forearm.  

He flipped his food tray and threw it with all his strength at one of them, as they started to lift the nozzles of their guns. Peter was half way across the space between them before the tray even hit Number 1 dead in the middle of his forehead, dropping him like a stone.

Number 2 had started to squeeze the trigger but registered Peter coming at him and turned, spraying bullets as he did so.

Peter heard screams behind him.

He reached Number 2 just before the nozzle was aimed at his chest, and pushed the guns upwards, bullets spraying the ceiling.

More screams.

Grabbing the gun with both hands, Peter smashed it into Number 2’s nose and as the teen bowed under the pain, Peter brought the gun down on his head.

As the screams continued to reverberate around him, Peter looked at the two still figures at his feet and picked up the second gun. Slowly, he turned around, his eyes immediately going to the table where he had sat. Ned still sat there, his face pale and frozen in shock.

Where was MJ? Peter’s already thundering heart rate picked up a notch as he scanned the nearby ground and found her two tables over, pressing her hands down on a brunette girl’s torso as the girl moaned in pain.

Blood seeped from between MJ’s fingers. _Jesus._

A blonde kid next to MJ was clutching his arm. Peter ran to them.

“Someone call 911!” MJ yelled. “Call 911!”

“We need a first aid kit over here!” Shouted a voice that Peter didn’t recognise.

He pulled his hoodie off and started to wrap it around the kid’s arm.

“Hold on.” Peter told the kid, as he pressed down firmly. “Hold on, you’re gonna be OK.”

Peter looked back over his shoulder. The two attackers were still out cold and two male staff members were standing over them. Returning his gaze to the kid in front of him, Peter could see that another student one table back was clutching his leg.

Principal Morita knelt down beside Peter.

“I’ll take these Peter,” Morita said quietly, taking hold of the semi-automatics that were lying at Peter’s feet. “Hang on Scott. An ambulance is on its way.”

Scott, the blonde kid, nodded as tears streamed down his face.

“Police?” Peter asked the Principal.

“On their way.” Morita replied, then stepped away to tend to another student.

 

* * *

 

One hour later and the school was still in chaos.

The ambulances and police had arrived. Four students had been carted off to hospital; one of them (the girl MJ had been helping) in a critical condition. Peter had been interviewed by the police. Twice. Frightened parents had been streaming into the school for the last 45 minutes.  

Peter finally stepped out of the cafeteria and slid down a wall to sit on the ground. His mind was blank. He didn’t know how long he stared at the announcements board opposite him, but was eventually aware of MJ sitting down at his side.

Silence.

“You OK?” He eventually asked.

“Fine.” She replied. “I’m fine. You?”

Peter looked down at his hands. They were shaking minutely. He held them up.

“I take on armed men tougher than those two every week. I never normally react like this.” He told her, looking at his shaking hands.

MJ was looking at his hands too. Surprising him, she reached over and took his left hand.

“I bet you’ve never had to fight someone on home turf before though, have you? You know, in a place where you had felt safe.” Her eyes held his steadily.

Peter thought about it.

“No, no I haven’t. Although, when I found out Liz’s Dad was the Vulture…that felt kinda similar.” He admitted.

MJ looked at the announcements board on the opposite wall.

“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” She said softly.

Peter gazed up at the notice board too, taking in the photos of grinning students.

“Who said that?” he asked.

“Maya Angelou” she replied.

Peter managed a small smile. “Of course.”

They sat in silence for a couple more minutes before Ned joined them, handing Peter a bottle of water before he slid down to sit on Peter’s other side.

 

* * *

 

Ned’s parents had come and gone, taking Ned home with them. Peter wondered about MJ’s Dad, but didn’t ask.

It was twenty minutes later when Aunt May found them, still sitting in the corridor.

“Oh my god.” She pulled him into a tight hug. “Peter. Peter.”

“I’m OK. Really.” He reassured her. “So is MJ.” MJ had been standing awkwardly off to one side. At Peter’s words, May pulled MJ into them, forming a group hug.

“I’m so glad, honey.” May leaned her head against Peter’s. “I can’t believe this could happen, at Midtown of all places.”

Peter sank further into the hug, one arm around May and the other around MJ.

 

* * *

 

It was when they were home that night that May turned to him.

“I want you to know that I get it now, Peter.” She said, drying her hands on a tea towel.

Peter paused in cleaning the dishes.

“Get what?”

“Why you do it. Why I can’t force you to stop doing it.”

Peter turned to fully face her and waited.

“New York. Queens…They’ve never been the safest places in the world.” She continued. “But after Ben died, I felt like nowhere was truly safe, y’know?”

Peter looked at his feet and nodded, unable to meet her eyes.

May stepped closer to him, saying “and if your kid isn’t even safe at school…well. You find yourself wondering what kind of a world you’re living in, and how different it is to the world you thought you lived in.”

Peter looked up and found May’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“It’s only because of people like you, that people like me can keep believing in that world.” Her tears spilled over as she went on, “and damnit, you’re too young to be doing this. But all those kids at your school are too young to die and they almost died today. _You_ almost died today.”

She pulled him into a fierce hug.

“I’m still not happy about it” she said. Peter nodded.

“And I will be making sure you stay on track at school, and that you take time out to be a normal kid every now and then.”

“Yes, May” he replied quietly.

She pulled back and Peter took in the tear tracks running down her cheeks. She took his face in her hands.

“I’m so damn proud of you, Peter. Don’t make me regret this, OK?”

“OK.”

“You always make it home to me, you hear?”

“Yeah. Love you May.”

“Love you too, kiddo. Love you too.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> In writing this fic I mean no offence to the victims of school-yard shootings in the USA, and I'm not using it as a part of the plot out of a lack of respect. I use it out of recognition that it is a very real problem the USA faces.
> 
> Also, I've chosen not to go into the outcomes of Peter's bravery (people thanking him, or getting suspicious of him) because I can't help but feel that no-one would be focussing on that.


End file.
